Act Daily News
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Paul Murdaugh despatched a Snapchat video to a number of associates simply minutes earlier than he was killed, in line with a movement filed by the South Carolina state lawyer prosecuting Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced former lawyer standing trial beginning this week within the killing of his spouse and son.
Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, had been discovered shot to dying on the household’s property in June 2021.
Alex Murdaugh has denied he was concerned of their deaths and pleaded not responsible to the homicide prices.
Jury choice started Monday. The trial may last as long as three weeks, attorneys for the protection and prosecution have stated.
Three generations of the Murdaugh household had served as prosecuting attorneys in coastal South Carolina, however a collection of deaths and allegations of embezzlement and insurance coverage fraud introduced the household legacy crashing down, capturing the nation’s consideration.
The reference to the video within the submitting, obtained by Act Daily News affiliate WCSC, seems to be the primary point out of the Snapchat video from prosecutors who intend to make use of it as proof of their case towards Murdaugh.
Snapchat supplied the recording as a part of a search warrant, the submitting stated.
“Amongst other things, critical to the case is a video sent out to several friends at approximately 7:56 PM on the night of the murders,” stated the submitting.
“The contents of this video is important to proving the State’s case in chief,” reads the doc, written by state prosecutors.
The doc doesn’t describe what the contents of the video are, and its significance to the case is unclear.
In October, Act Daily News reported, prosecutors in courtroom paperwork stated the mom and son had been killed between 8:30 p.m. and 10:06 p.m. in courtroom paperwork. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division beforehand reported the deaths occurred between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters requested within the movement {that a} consultant from Snapchat, the social media platform which supplied the video, “testify in person that the video is a true and accurate record kept in the normal course of business activity.”
Judge Clifton Newman dominated in favor of the movement and issued a request to a Los Angeles, district courtroom to compel a consultant of Snapchat to attend the Murdaugh trial beginning the primary day of jury choice.